Anger and Revenge
by owlsong489
Summary: The Wizarding World is coming to an end. Voldemort's been defeated, but what about the Death Eaters that remain? Lily and James survived the war. But what happens when they have the chance to confront the Lestranges and end it all?


**Author's Note**: I suppose this is my first serious fic. I followed a prompt that asked for James and Lily as coldblooded killers. This isn't quite that story, but that was my starting point. For the purposes of this story, let's pretend that Voldemort never showed up in Godric's Hollow and never murdered the Potters. By some miracle the Order managed to come back against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and that's where this story picks up. Also, let's just pretend that Voldemort never made all those annoying horcruxes. Just makes this story a bit easier :)

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing. I just have an overactive imagination and a writing problem.

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><p>Lily sat at the kitchen table watching James pace across the room. She was restless, her eyes constantly flickering back to the fireplace then to the window behind the sink, then back to her husband. Her foot shook beneath the table, her fingers tapping on the wood. James ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the mess, then sliding down his face. He reached the doorway to the living room then spun on his heels to retrace his footsteps.<p>

They were waiting for word from Dumbledore, from Alastor Moody, Sirius, Remus, anyone. What was taking so long? This war had taken a toll on all of them, but they were so close to the end, so close to finishing off Voldemort once and for all. So close to feeling the sun on their faces and the fresh air in their longs. Soon they'd be able to give baby Harry the childhood he deserved.

But this hadn't come without a price. Lily and James had been driven into hiding for almost two years now. It was slowly tearing them apart, breaking down their will and driving them insane. It was one thing to worry about friends and family in a war, but an entirely more horrible thing to fear for their lives when there is absolutely nothing that you can do for them. James and Lily had slowly heard about their friends being picked off one by one in the time they'd been hidden away in Godric's Hollow. Alice and Frank Longbottom had been tortured into insanity after Voldemort learned of the same prophecy that had sentenced the Potters to their retreat. Sweet Alice and humble Frank, they would never even know their own son, let alone their closest friends. Marlene McKinnon was tortured and forced to watch the Death Eaters murder her family in front of her before they finally got her too. Benjy Fenwick had been brutally murdered by Death Eaters just a month ago, and they never even found his body. And James and Lily had been locked away the whole time, unable to fight for them, unable to even attend their funerals.

And they were angry. They had their lives stripped away from them. This was no place to raise a child. This was no time to be unable to fight back. Lily and James were strong, but they did no good here.

A bright light came sailing in through the kitchen window in the shape of a dog. Sirius. The shape spoke just for a moment. "We have them" was all it said before fizzling out, leaving the room quiet once more. James and Lily looked at each other, nodding, before resuming their nervous behavior. Lily bit at her nails on her left hand, a habit she'd gained in the past few months. James's hand twitched towards his pocket every few seconds, as if reaching to draw his wand.

Minutes passed. Or was it hours? What was happening? The Order had cornered and captured Voldemort and his inner circle, at least according to Sirius's patronus. Something could have gone wrong, for surely it wouldn't take this long to do away with the biggest threats. Dumbledore had come to see them just this morning, telling them of the plan. Once Voldemort had been killed or taken into custody at the very least, he would summon them. They would finally be able to leave their hiding place and fight along side their friends. But they should have heard by now.

At last a silver phoenix patrons came flying through the window, just as the dog had. James stopped and spun quickly towards it as Lily jumped to her feet. It was Dumbledore. "It's done. Come now." Lily ran to Harry's bedroom, warning Bathilda, who had offered to stay at their house for the night, that Dumbledore had made contact and they were leaving.

She came back to the kitchen, grabbing the hand that James offered her. She was determined- her anger brought her focus- but James could see the fear and worry in her eyes, as she could see it in his.

"Ready?" he asked, rubbing a gentle circle on the back of his hand, such a sweet gesture at such a horrible time.

Lily took a deep breath, pulled herself up, straightened her back and looked up into his eyes. There was a fire burning there that reflected from within her own. She pushed herself to her toes, kissing him hard on the lips for just a moment.

"Yes. Let's go." The left the house, walking just outside of their wards before turning on the spot and disapparating.

When they appeared outside the old manor house they could smell smoke drifting through the air, a few small fires burning in the distance, the occasional scream echoing through the air. They walked down the gravel path, wands drawn and senses on high alert. Sirius met them on the front steps. He nodded solemnly at them.

"He's dead. Dumbledore got him. And Moody's got the rest of them locked up downstairs. We need you to help question. There are a few being particularly-" he paused, searching for the right words. "-difficult. We thought it might help to use a new approach."

He led them through the halls of the first floor, the rooms on either side of them in a mess, furniture tossed aside, broken and scattered. There were scorch marks along the wood paneled walls where stray spells had missed their targets. A few broken bodies lay on the ground, where they hadn't.

Downstairs they met Alastor Moody, who looked even more worn and frazzled than ever before. He had a cut across his right cheek, which oozed blood, and soot and dirt across his forehead.

"Right. Potters. We've got the Lestranges in here," he jerked his head toward the door nearest them. "Now we know they were involved in the Longbottom attack. And we suspect they may have been at the McKinnon's too. These two are dangerous and sneaky. But uh… we think you might be able to get something out of them."

Lily's blood was already boiling in her veins. She nodded at Moody, taking a step towards the door. James exchanged a grave look with Sirius before nodding and moving to join his wife.

Lily's hand was already on the doorknob when Moody stopped them once more. "You two should know," he paused to look down the hallway in either direction before continuing. "These two were well practiced in using the Unforgivable Curses, which of course remain unforgivable. But these walls down here," he rapped his knuckles along the panels, "they're strong and thick. Not a whole lot of sound passes in or out." And with that he turned and stomped down the hallway, leaning heavily on his right leg.

James and Lily pushed the door open, taking note of Bellatrix and Rodulphus tied to chairs on the far end of the room. James closed the door tight behind them before coming to stand beside his wife. Both Death Eaters, though tied to their spots, were also in a forced temporary coma. Lily woke them both with a wave of her wand.

It took a minute for them to both regain consciousness but as soon as they realized who was standing before them they began calling out insults, cursing the "Bloodtraitor Potter" and his "Mudblood whore". Lily managed to silence Bellatrix with her wand but James had already stepped forward to strike Rodulphus across the face. His lip cracked open and he began to bleed.

James spoke first. "Now you listen, the both of you. You're not getting out of this. We've caught you. Your precious Dark Lord is dead and there's not much hope for you."

Bellatrix, unable to speak, spat upon Lily, who fired a spell back at her. The force of it knocked her chair back against the wall, where she balanced precariously, unable to return the four chair legs to the ground.

"Tell me what you did to Marlene. We know it was you how got to the Longbottoms. And you'll pay for that one too." The rage in Lily's voice echoed throughout her body, and she struggled to hold her wand hand steady. She slowly lifted the silencing spell, allowing Bellatrix the opportunity to speak.

"Like we would tell you, you filthy whore!" spat Rodolphus. A red spark shot from James's wand and Rodolphus gasped for air as if a hand was closing around his neck.

"Your little friend got what was coming to her. I'm just sorry you didn't get the same," said Bellatrix with a sneer. Lily had moved closer to her by this point. She reached her hand out and struck her across the face, drawing blood much like her husband had.

"No. You didn't get to me. And look who's on the other end of the wand now. There's no use denying it, just tell us what happened."

Bellatrix lunged forward, but the ropes holding her to the chair restrained her. Lily pushed her back again.

"Alright, mudblood. You want to know?"

"Bella. Stop!" Her husband gasped, trying to stop her from continuing, but James strengthened the spell.

"Quiet Rodolphus. You know nothing. You were only granted any authority because of me. I was the Dark Lord's favorite. I AM!" she shouted and it echoed throughout the otherwise empty room.

She turned back to face Lily. "I'll tell you then. How the Longbottom scum begged for mercy. Neither of them needed to die. I would never spill their pureblood," she shot her eyes over towards James with a sick smile before leaning back towards Lily. But the Dark Lord wanted to be sure that was not the child we needed. And they would not obey."

Lily shot James a look that went unnoticed by the woman before them. She was retreating into her memories, letting the insanity take hold. Her eyes glimmered with a deranged excitement. "The bitch went first. She put up a good fight, yes she did. But soon I had her groveling on the floor. All it took was one last dose of the Cruciatus and she snapped like a chicken bone." Her maniacal laughter bounced off the walls, sending chills down Lily's spine as she fought to keep her emotions in check. "And her husband sat watching the whole thing. Not that he had a choice. And he wept like a child, a foolish child. He didn't last much longer after that."

"And what about the McKinnons?" said James firmly as he struggled to keep his voice from wavering. Frank had been his friend and this cut him to the core.

"Ahh. Yes, I enjoyed that one too. Such a large family, we needed big numbers that night. Of course the whole family needn't have died, but we knew the oldest was one of you. One of the Order," she spat out as if the very word offended her. "She had information on the pair of you, as a matter of fact. And she refused to share." Her voice rose at the end, as if she was sharing some funny anecdote.

James looked over at Lily, knowing how this information would affect her. Afraid that this would tear her apart, worrying that she had lead to her friend's death, no matter how indirectly. But before he could step in, Bellatrix continued.

"Well we simply couldn't have that. So we offered her a deal. Give us the information or watch her family crumble around her. It's a shame really that we let Travers handle that end of the deal. Seems he got a little out of hand and killed them all. Whoops." She concluded with a laugh.

"And Marlene? What did you do to her?" asked Lily, her voice now obviously shaking.

"Oh, well I wouldn't know," she said with a shake of her head, completely unconcerned with the matter. "I let the boys to care of it."

Lily's jaw fell open. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her and she gasped for air.

"You evil bitch!" shouted James, turning his wand on her, the force of the spell knocking her back into the wall with a force far greater than Lily's original spell.

Rodolphus, finally free from the spell James had over him, tried to lunge out of his seat, screaming, but Lily spun towards him, sending a stunner that lifted him wholly into the air and across the room. He hit the wall at full force, his head cracking on the wall. The chair fell on its side, his body crumpling as his own blood pooled around him.

A loud shriek filled the room as Bellatrix saw what happened. She pulled against the ropes holding her, and perhaps with the force of her own rage or from a careful maneuvering over time as her chair leant against the wall, she managed to throw them off, lunging at Lily and taking her to the floor beneath her. Lily was unprepared and her head bounced off the floor, her wand slipping out of her hand and rolling across the room. She tried to push her off, but with the fuzzy feeling slipping through her mind after the fall she was no match for the wild woman above her. She felt hands close around her neck as she tried in vain to kick Bellatrix off of her.

In the mere seconds that had passed James dove forward, pulling the Death Eater off his wife and throwing her across the room. His only concern was getting her away from Lily, and he failed to notice Bellatrix had landed just a few feet from Lily's wand. She picked it up, rising to her feet and advancing back across the room in just a few strides. Assuming that Lily was out cold, she turned her attention to James, pointing the wand at his temple. The wand resisted her control, but her rage was strong.

"In most cases I'd try to avoid such a fate as the one I've planned for you, Potter. But bloodtraitors like you are the worst kind. _Crucio!_" she screamed, his body collapsing before her. The curse was not as strong as she had hoped, but she held it, knowing with time it would have the desired effect.

She didn't notice Lily stirring behind her. Didn't see the woman reach into her boot and pull out a silver knife, a gift from Sirius after they had gone into hiding. Didn't see her stand beside her. She only noticed once Lily had shoved her shoulder around, forcing the wand to fall from her hand. And only when it was plunged into her heart did she notice the knife.

One hand still on the knife, the other holding the mad woman in front of her, Lily leaned close to her ear. "That is for everyone that you've taken from me. Rot in hell." And she pushed the nearly lifeless body away from her.

"James!" she collapsed on the ground, knees landing hard on the stone floor, where he was already stirring, struggling to push himself into a sitting position. He reached up to her face, cupping her cheek in his palm. She leaned into it, his eyes boring into her dry and empty eyes.

"Lily, love. I'm okay. It's over." He ran his other hand through her hair, pulling her head towards his and resting his forehead against hers.

She looked down at her hands, shocked to see the blood all over them. "I- I killed her. I killed her with my own hands." She said, stunned.

James pulled her to his chest, running his hand up and down her back, while her hands hung lifelessly at her side. "Shhh. Love, its okay. You have nothing to be sorry about. You're safe. We're safe."

She pulled back just far enough to look at his face. "I'm not, though, James. Not sorry. Not one bit." She looked back at her hands. "But the blood. It's… I can't…. It's all over me." Her hands shook, as did her voice.

"Come here," he said taking her hands. He picked up his own wand from where it had fallen beside him and quietly cleaned off the blood from his wife's hands. He felt a wetness that wasn't blood fall on his hand that rested over hers and looked up to see tears running down her face. He placed a finger beneath her chin, bringing her face back up to his.

She gave a weak sad smile. "It's over. James." And she wrapped her arms around him, desperate to feel him around her, to know that they were safe and that everything really would be okay.

"Oh Lily," he sighed, running his hand down through her hair, the other at her back, cradling her against him. "Lily, I love you so much." He pressed a kiss to her temple.

The sat there for a few silent moments, feeling how close the other was, knowing that they had made it out alive and that maybe, no- certainly, they could come back from this. They could build a better world and a brighter future for themselves and for their son.


End file.
